Mon, Feb 26 2024, 11:05 AM
Saturday was George Thorogood’s 74th birthday, and fans know that he wrote the classic tale of rent collection, land ladies, and payment avoidance. Ti...
Fri, Feb 23 2024, 10:52 AM
“Alexa, where’s my damn package?” (Page down 3-4 times to the video.) Life is full of surprises, good and bad. Rates aren’t a surprise… The U.S. Feder...
Thu, Feb 22 2024, 10:49 AM
Did someone say, “National Margarita Day”? (Splendid timing, especially as vendors and lenders contemplate a rate and volume environment that may not ...
Wed, Feb 21 2024, 2:36 PM
There’s an old LO joke, telling their client, “When you’re buying a house, be sure to do it with a significant other, and make sure that one of you ha...
Tue, Feb 20 2024, 11:26 AM
Two vultures are in a field, eating a dead clown. One vulture says to the other, "Does this taste funny to you?" The last thing you want to hear about...
Fri, Feb 16 2024, 10:42 AM
It was a sad day earlier this week for anyone who likes food out of a toaster as the inventor of Pop-Tarts passed away at age 96. (Yes, Pop-Tarts were...
Thu, Feb 15 2024, 11:01 AM
In my travels I’ve eaten some unusual foods, although maybe not this unusual, but here in Boise the talk is about how unusual it is that applications ...
Wed, Feb 14 2024, 11:50 AM
Have you ever been to a chiropractor? You know, where there’s something out of alignment, you describe it to them, and then they work their magic? Her...
Tue, Feb 13 2024, 11:36 AM
In our biz, you never want to hear, “deception,” “targeting the elderly,” or “abusive tactics” related to a company. But there they are in this report...
Mon, Feb 12 2024, 11:36 AM
Why should lenders and vendors care about servicing? (STRATMOR’s current blog is titled, “It’s 2024: Do You Know Where Your Servicing Is?”) Not only d...
Fri, Feb 9 2024, 11:35 AM
Sometimes there is no shortcut when you want to make a lot of money. Speaking of making money, and creating wealth for clients, owning real estate con...
Thu, Feb 8 2024, 11:17 AM
Economists have their favorite indices to measure the health of the economy. GDP, if men are buying underwear, CPI, RV shipments, GDP, plastic surgery...
Wed, Feb 7 2024, 11:11 AM
When this commentary gig gets old, I think I’ll take up… throwing needles? But so far so good, putting this out six days a week. Yesterday I glanced a...
Tue, Feb 6 2024, 10:45 AM
Every month we receive statistics showing how prices are going up, or down, and our Federal Reserve is continually mentioning controlling inflation wh...
Mon, Feb 5 2024, 10:39 AM
“If I had a dollar for every girl that found me unattractive, they would eventually find me attractive.” New York Community Bancorp, buyer of Flagstar...
Fri, Feb 2 2024, 10:54 AM
Although he is correct less than half the time, groundhog Punxsutawney Phil didn’t see his shadow this morning, meaning an early spring is likely. At ...
Thu, Feb 1 2024, 11:07 AM
Ahead of Groundhog Day tomorrow, one realizes that our industry certainly has its share of unexpected ups and downs. The latest example of a “down” is...
Wed, Jan 31 2024, 10:56 AM
I could tell that my cat Myrtle was miffed. Not only had the work on her “2024 Vision Board Statement” languished, but either there was no line-caught...
Tue, Jan 30 2024, 10:57 AM
“What do hospital gowns and insurance policies have in common? You’re never covered as much as you think you are.” Although loan officers are not insu...
Mon, Jan 29 2024, 10:57 AM
“Sometimes it takes me all day to get nothing done.” But things are always changing. When I was a kid I “got a drink of water.” Now kids “hydrate.” Re...
Fri, Jan 26 2024, 10:30 AM
Life is a matter of perspective, and LOs and vendors don’t need some momentous weekly or monthly numbers to garner a piece of the $1.5-$2 trillion res...
Thu, Jan 25 2024, 2:48 PM
Who doesn’t think swearing parrots are funny? Although you wouldn’t want your parrot talking about the clap when Aunt Beatrice comes over for Sunday d...
Wed, Jan 24 2024, 11:10 AM
As attendees head home from the MBA’s IMB in New Orleans, plenty will be eating airplane chow. Maybe you should buy vittles on the ground instead. Giv...
Tue, Jan 23 2024, 10:48 AM
Yesterday’s Commentary had a note about Atlantic Bay’s “LinkedIn traffic picking up.” I have been assured by Atlantic Bay’s CEO that the company conti...
Mon, Jan 22 2024, 10:49 AM
Attention in the hallways in the early going at the IMB Conference in New Orleans is varied. LinkedIn traffic seems to have picked up for IMB companie...
Fri, Jan 19 2024, 11:02 AM
If you’re in Chicago, the newest attraction is “the rat hole.” Here in Denver, besides the cat I saw in the airport yesterday being walked on a leash,...
Thu, Jan 18 2024, 10:21 AM
Then VP Al Gore supposedly said, "It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it." Here...
Wed, Jan 17 2024, 11:20 AM
Today I am in San Diego for the SD CAMP event. At the same latitude, a poll was taken by Texas Governor Greg Abbott's office which asked whether peopl...
Tue, Jan 16 2024, 9:50 AM
“I’m supposed to respect my elders, but now it’s getting harder and harder for me to find one.” Gradually it’s becoming harder and harder to find a ba...
Fri, Jan 12 2024, 11:01 AM
I received this call yesterday from an LO friend. “Rob, I was talking to my ‘hair-apist’ last night, and I was telling her about how our industry has ...
Thu, Jan 11 2024, 10:26 AM
Our Federal Reserve doesn’t control events around the world, like a ship being stuck in the Suez Canal, or the current Red Sea geopolitical aggression...
Wed, Jan 10 2024, 10:51 AM
I’m so tired of the mainstream press talking about the 2024 election, 10 months out. Given that the median age of U.S. citizens is about 38 years, one...
Tue, Jan 9 2024, 8:37 AM
Is it just my imagination or do restaurants no longer have salt and pepper shakers on the tables after COVID? Is it just my imagination or do organiza...
Mon, Jan 8 2024, 10:38 AM
California is home to approximately 39 million residents, which is about one-eighth of the U.S. population, more than the entire population of Canada,...
Fri, Jan 5 2024, 10:43 AM
Now is about the time when you stop saying “Happy New Year,” either because it is no longer relevant, or you’ve forgotten who you’ve said it to. Lende...
Thu, Jan 4 2024, 11:00 AM
“My dad always said to me, ‘Work until your bank account looks like a phone number’ so I did. Account balance: $9.11.” You can work harder, or you can...
Wed, Jan 3 2024, 11:03 AM
“Affordable” means many things. There are residential lending industry jokes about making a loan on anything with axles or a license plate. (Like “don...
Tue, Jan 2 2024, 10:28 AM
Our Federal Reserve doesn’t control events around the world, like a ship being stuck in the Suez Canal, or the current Red Sea geopolitical aggression...
Fri, Dec 29 2023, 11:35 AM
“What do you call a gal who’s had too much to drink? A cab.” Of course, anyone who’s been drinking should stay away from California’s 40-foot waves. D...
Thu, Dec 28 2023, 10:54 AM
If someone reports their company for tax evasion in the U.S., he or she will receive 30 percent of the amount collected. Have you ever loaned someone ...
Wed, Dec 27 2023, 10:54 AM
Susan Toste writes to Ira Selwin who sends me (see how these things work?), “Can you believe it is 364 days until Christmas and people already have th...
Tue, Dec 26 2023, 10:43 AM
Did you receive any SM under the tree this weekend? Call it snail mucus, or snail mucin, it’s all the same to me, which, as a kid, represented a trail...
Fri, Dec 22 2023, 11:38 AM
“If you know someone who has an intense fear of store Santas, would you say they were suffering from Claus-trophobia?” For individuals or companies, d...
Thu, Dec 21 2023, 10:43 AM
“What do you call a Christmas wreath made out of $100 bills? Aretha Franklins.” It’s cutting-edge humor like this that keeps readers coming back for m...
Wed, Dec 20 2023, 10:39 AM
Here’s what happened when a company relied on forecasts and rate predictions during late 2022 for its business in 2023. You’d have a come-apart! Speak...
Tue, Dec 19 2023, 10:56 AM
Change is constant: How ‘bout U.S. Steel, the Pittsburgh steel producer that played a key role in the nation’s industrialization, being acquired by Ni...
Mon, Dec 18 2023, 11:35 AM
Yesterday the U.S. Government took a step addressing robocalls! But in that vein, sorry for the delay in sending out today’s Commentary. I received an...
Fri, Dec 15 2023, 11:30 AM
Here in Chicago, there are several restaurants that are “the place” to have afternoon tea. Tomorrow is the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. ...
Thu, Dec 14 2023, 11:21 AM
Everyone’s above average, right? This morning I head to Chicago where residents have the dubious honor of being the worst when it comes to estimating ...
Wed, Dec 13 2023, 10:07 AM
“I'm at a place in my life where errands are starting to count as going out.” No one’s getting any younger, and like time marching on, technology does...
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